1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to the field of infrared (IR) image correlation and scene identification.
2. Description of Related Art
Correlation of a target scene with a matching target scene model is typically handled by using the following methods: (1) a conventional correlation technique, e.g., the standard Hough correlation algorithm, which leads to performance degradation while engaging clutter-rich and high-ambiguity target scenes; (2) the use of two-dimensional (2-D) reference models, which limits the selection of ingress angles for missile terminal trajectory and also causes large impact miss distance due to deviations from the pre-planned nominal trajectory; (3) the use of single-frame confidence, not confidence accumulation through multi-frames, resulting in confidence fluctuation from frame to frame and unreliable system performance; (4) some clutter-rejection algorithms using edge-point connectivity only, reducing the effectiveness in removing clutter-induced edges; and (5) discrete changes of model footprints, introducing the serious problems of high degree of ambiguity and high rate of false correlation. Overall, such algorithms have lower than desirable accuracy, are subject to high false-alarm rates, and have very limited success in dealing with robustness.